1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus for printing or displaying image data or the like stored in an image file.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, there is an increasing demand for editing and forming documents according to the so-called DTP (desktop publishing). In DTP, characters, one or more figures, one or more tables or the like are arranged in a region (page) having a desired size to provide a file (in software), which can be printed out. In such a case, when changing the layout of respective components arranged on a page constituting a document, it is necessary to assign an area to be moved and to perform the processes of (I) segmenting.fwdarw.(II) copying to an intermediate buffer.fwdarw.(III) moving the assigned area to a desired area.
When arranging new image data as a component, layout is performed according to the processes of (I) opening data.fwdarw.(II) copying to an intermediate buffer.fwdarw.(III) moving the copied data to a desired area.
In accordance with the recent provision of a multimedia-platform environment, in some systems, a moving-image file can be displayed on a monitor picture surface by laying it out in a window within a page picture frame as a component. It is also possible to assign a frame for such a moving picture, and to print the image of the page including the frame.
However, in accordance with an increasing demand for high-quality output pictures, many problems have arisen. For example, the processing speed decreases or the quality of a printed-out picture is degraded as a result of a request for a high-quality image, such as a high-resolution component image, an image having a wide dynamic range, or the like.
For example, when laying out simple figure data (such as binary image data) in a page in DTP, since the amount of image data is relatively small, a great deal of time is not required for (I) opening of a figure data file and (II) copying to an intermediate buffer. Also when (III) moving the data to a desired area, positioning can be performed substantially in real time in a state in which no time difference is present between a pointer on the picture surface and the movement of a pointer-instructing member (for example, a mouse).
However, if the data to be dealt with comprises a high-quality natural image, execution of the above-described processes takes a very long time because the amount of data greatly increases, and therefore cannot be practically used. If the number of pixels of image data is reduced in advance (i.e., if the amount of data is reduced), the above-described operation is performed at a high speed. However, when printing the corresponding image, the resolution of the image is reduced, and therefore the quality of the image is degraded.
When a data image is a moving image, for example, an image represented by an NTSC signal having a rate of 1/60 second, consider a case in which an editing operation is performed by laying out a window for the image in a page. Such an operation is mostly performed on a monitor having a large number of pixels, such as a VGA (video graphics array) monitor (640.times.480 pixels). The maximum size of the set and displayed window comprises 640.times.480 pixels. When laying out a window for a moving image, as shown in FIG. 17, the window for the moving image generally comprises about 160.times.120 pixels. Of course, when viewing the picture on a VGA monitor, the reduced state of 160.times.120 pixels causes no problem. However, when displaying the picture on other systems (for example, a projector having a large number of pixels), the number of pixels in the entire page may increase. In such a case, character portions are magnified without being influenced by the number of pixels by using an outline font or the like. On the other hand, since only the portion of the moving-image window comprises a magnified image obtained by interpolating the original image of 160.times.120 pixels, the quality of the image of this portion is inferior. This is also true when printing one picture frame.
The same problem also arises when the frame rate differs. That is, when displaying a moving-image file and a page layout converted into display data for a monitor which cannot perform a display having a rate of 1/60 second due to restriction in the memory capacity, the capability of a D/A (digital-to-analog) converter or the like on a display which can perform a display at a rate of 1/60 second, a considerably insufficient result is obtained.
In order to solve such problems, a technique is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application (Kokai) No. 3-4151 (1991), in which when laying out an image on a page, a file name is displayed instead of displaying data by moving the data. When printing the image, image data of the file corresponding to the file name is retrieved and printed. According to this approach, a high-quality image can be printed. However, the layed out page is merely a printing procedure which cannot be freely modified or utilized. In addition, actually required functions, for example, processing, such as reduction, magnification or the like, of an image, adjustment of the layout position, and the like cannot be performed in real time.
A system of which uses original data and data obtained by skipping some of the original data for image retrieval is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application (Kokai) No. 2-11927 (1990). This system, however, cannot perform page layout and the like, and no solution of problems due to a difference between output apparatuses is presented.